August 2026 - Plastic Waste Solutions
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Pact trial advances soft plastics recycling in NZ – New Zealand
Posted on August 6, 2026 by DrRossH in Plastic RecyclingA decade of technical development has culminated in a commercial-scale trial that is converting mixed polymer post-consumer soft plastics into durable construction products. Source: Pact trial advances soft plastics recycling in NZ - PKN Packaging News Working with the Soft...
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Award-winning RePlay reveals the promise and reality of reuse – New Zealand
Posted on August 6, 2026 by DrRossH in Plastic RecyclingThree Gold awards and a Silver saw RePlay top the medal tally in this year's PIDA awards. But behind the accolades lies an equally important story: the practical challenges of making reusable packaging systems commercially viable. Source: Award-winning RePlay reveals...
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Chemically recycled plastics up to 3.7 times more expensive, EU study finds
Posted on August 5, 2026 by DrRossH in Plastic RecyclingWhile chemically recycled plastics remain significantly more expensive than virgin alternatives, a strong EU regulatory market could transform their competitiveness. Source: Chemically recycled plastics up to 3.7 times more expensive, EU study finds - Plastics News Continue reading this entry →

How many people today grab a takeaway coffee cup from the local cafe to drink on the go? We don’t know, but the number must be enormous.. Most every one of the above have a plastic top that will last 100s of years. Some cafes still use plastic cups that last a similar time. Is 10 minutes of coffee worth 100s of years of trash?
These items can be seen littering our gutters and on our streets all over the place. If they were all cardboard, they would still be littered, but they would, at least, be gone in a short time.
They do not need to be made of plastic.
On the way home from the gym last week, a distance of about 1 km (1/2 mile), I counted the items of plastic litter on the curb as I walked. In that short distance I counted 63 pieces of plastic litter. Plastic drink bottles, bottle tops, candy wrappers, plastic film, polystyrene fragments etc. That seemed to be a lot to me. I guess it is a generational thing. Our parents would have been horrified to see that amount, whereas it seems to go unnoticed by our youth of today. In another 20 years how many pieces will there be on this stretch, -- 200? What will today’s youth think of that new amount then when they are older? Will their children be so readily accepting of a higher amount of litter?